CN115243980A

CN115243980A - Stack box and transport and/or storage system comprising two or more stack boxes

Info

Publication number: CN115243980A
Application number: CN202180018506.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 希尔科·科赫
Original assignee: Xi ErkeKehe
Current assignee: Xi ErkeKehe
Priority date: 2020-03-03
Filing date: 2021-02-18
Publication date: 2022-10-25
Also published as: RS63340B1; EP3875385B1; EP3875385A1; BR112022017496A2; PT3875385T; HUE059353T2; ES2921428T3; US20230101032A1; DK3875385T3; PL3875385T3; MX2022010758A; JP2023516681A; WO2021175603A1

Abstract

A stacking box (1) is disclosed, the stacking box (1) comprising: a base (2); in particular a circumferential wall (3) which delimits the receiving space (4) together with the base (2), and a receiving opening (6) which is delimited by an edge (5) of the wall (3). A support element (7) which can be moved back and forth between a rest position and a support position is attached to the stacking box (1). When in the supporting position, the supporting elements (7) are positioned such that they enable the storage area of a stacked box (1) and another stacked box (1) having substantially the same structure to be placed on top of each other to form a stacked box. When in the rest position, the support elements (7) are positioned such that they allow the stacking box (1) and another stacking box (1) to be placed inside the other to form a nested box stack. According to the invention, a support element (7) is designed and attached to the stacking box (1) such that it is moved into the support position solely by gravity drive when the stacking box (1) is placed on a base on the foundation (2). When the stacking box (1) is placed on the base with the receiving opening (6) down on the edge, the support element (7) is moved into the rest position solely by gravity-driven means.

Description

Stack box and transport and/or storage system comprising two or more stack boxes

Technical Field

The present invention generally belongs to the field of logistics and in particular relates to a stacked box having the features of the preamble of claim 1 and a transport and/or storage system comprising two or more such stacked boxes.

Background

In the field of logistics, stacking boxes are generally used in order to arrange and keep items to be transported or stored therein. Boxes of this type are often, even regularly, arranged in a box pack from boxes of as identical configuration as possible. This can be done in particular without temporarily storing a cover closing the receiving opening of the lower box and receiving the bottom region of the stacked box, by providing a support structure in the upwardly directed opening region of the lower box of the box stack to be constructed, on which support structure the box to be stacked can be placed or stored without being placed into the box located therebelow. In this way, such boxes with articles or goods placed therein can be stacked on top of one another without the stacked boxes resting on the articles or goods stored in the boxes, for example. Such boxes that can be stacked in this way into a stack of boxes stacked on top of each other with articles in them may also be referred to as stacked boxes.

In order to store or transport such stacks in an empty state in a space-saving manner, it is also generally provided that the stacks can be placed in one another and connected to form a stack of nested boxes. In this case, further stacking boxes are placed in the receiving spaces of the stacking boxes which are arranged lowermost with the bottom on the parking plane, in more detail in the receiving spaces of the stacking boxes which have been placed in such stacking boxes respectively and thus form a box stack nested into one another.

In order to be able to produce a stack of the same type, i.e. not only stacks of boxes stacked on top of one another but also stacks of boxes nested within one another, various modifications suggest that the stacks of boxes are stacked together as required to form respective receiving space nests in a manner that results in a space-saving stack.

One way of achieving this is described, for example, in patent US 6,047,853. The stacked box described in this patent is formed asymmetrically with respect to the design on two opposite end sides, so that the patent provides a structure allowing nested, nested stacking in a first direction of the box, the box allowing stacked boxes to be placed one on top of the other, with respect to rotation about an axis perpendicular to the bottom of the box, to form a stacked box to be placed in a second position of the stacked box to be placed, rotated 180 ° from the first position about an axis perpendicular to the bottom. In order to assemble these stacked cases in a nested manner, the respective cases must be aligned in a first rotational position selected with respect to a rotational axis extending perpendicular to the floor, and then can be stacked nested within each other. If these stacked boxes are placed on top of each other, especially after they are filled with goods to be transported or stored, they must be rotated 180 ° with respect to a rotation axis perpendicular to the bottom of the boxes, and then they can be stacked on top of each other.

This process is simple, since it does not require further processing of the stacked boxes, except for the described proper alignment with respect to rotation about an axis of rotation extending perpendicular to the bottom. However, if a person takes a stacked box which is already filled with goods or articles and has to turn 180 ° around a rotation axis extending perpendicular to the bottom of the box before the person can further form a box stack by stacking boxes on a lower box, it is precisely this alignment which is laborious and laborious for the operator. The more cases, the greater the weight of the stacked cases. Automated handling is also expensive, since the operating units must always be correctly aligned to the direction of rotation before they can be placed to form the stack.

Another way of doing this is shown and described, for example, in WO 1998/056668 A1, on the one hand to form a stack of boxes stacked together and on the other hand to allow space-saving stacks of empty stacked boxes to nest into one another. The shown stacked box has a support element movable between a support position allowing placing another stacked box on the support element in the support position and a rest position allowing placing another stacked box in the receiving space of the underlying stacked box to form a nested box stack of empty stacked boxes. The design of a stacker of the type described in the preamble of claim 1 no longer requires a 180 ° rotation of the stacker about a rotational axis perpendicular to the bottom of the stacker. However, this requires the support element, which in the case of the known stacking boxes is actively moved from the rest position into the support position or vice versa, depending on the respective requirement that the support element is moved into the support position if the stack is formed, in particular, from stacking boxes filled in the receiving space which are stacked on top of one another, or into the rest position if a space-saving stack is formed from empty stacking boxes.

Disclosure of Invention

Against this background, it is an object of the invention to provide a stacking box which, by simple handling and without any special intervention by the user, enables a box stack to be formed from stacking boxes lying on top of one another and empty stacking boxes to be kept in an interleaved, nested box stack, thereby saving space.

On the one hand, this object is achieved by a stacking box having the features of claim 1, to which advantageous developments in the dependent claims 2 to 9 are specified. On the other hand, the solution to this problem is a transport and/or storage system comprising at least two, in particular a plurality of stacking boxes of the type according to the invention.

According to the invention, a new type of stacking box has, and this corresponds substantially to known stacking boxes, a base, a wall which extends from the base in a direction perpendicular thereto, in particular circumferentially, together with the base, and which delimits a receiving space, and a receiving opening which is delimited by an edge of the wall which is opposite the base. Furthermore, a support element is arranged on the stacking box, which can be moved back and forth between a rest position and a support position. These support elements are positioned in a support position in such a way that: such that they allow a stacked box and another stacked box of the same basic construction to be placed on top of each other to form a stacked box stack. On the other hand, in the rest position, the support element is positioned in such a way that: so that they enable a stacked box to be nested with another stacked box that is substantially identical in construction to form a nested box stack.

The walls and the base can be constructed wholly or partly in a sturdy construction and without interruptions, in particular for storing and transporting small objects therein. However, it is also possible to at least partly provide the walls and/or the base with openings, for example to save material for manufacturing the stacked box, to reduce the weight of the stacked box, to make the stacked box easy to clean and/or to ventilate goods stored in the stacked box, such as food, for example fruits or vegetables.

Up to now and as described above, the stacked box according to the invention remains the same as described in WO 1998/056668 A1. The stacking box according to the invention is peculiar in that, unlike the stacking boxes known from the above-mentioned document, the supporting element does not have to be actively transferred by a corresponding intervention of a user, but the supporting element is designed and attached at the stacking box in such a way that the supporting element is transferred to the supporting position solely by gravity when the stacking box is placed on the base with the base thereof in a substantially horizontal orientation and is aligned with the substantially vertically upwardly directed receiving opening. Furthermore, the support element is designed and attached to the stacking box such that the support element is moved into the rest position solely driven by gravity when the stacking box is placed onto the rim in a substantially horizontal orientation of the receiving opening and is directed substantially vertically upwards with said base.

The support element is thus moved only by the action of gravity, depending on the orientation of the stacked box according to the invention with respect to rotation about an axis of rotation extending around or parallel to the base plane. When the stacker is placed on the upwardly opening base, it is moved to the support position in a gravity-driven manner. When the stacker is inverted, i.e., placed with the opening facing upward, and with the base upright, it moves to a resting position. In contrast to the known stacking boxes, the nested stacks which are now staggered with respect to one another are formed from empty boxes in such a way that the box arranged at the lowermost end is likewise placed upside down on its edge delimiting the receiving opening and the other stacking boxes are then placed with the receiving opening down onto the base of the stacking box located therebelow. This is easy to achieve because in this orientation, as already mentioned above, the support elements are in a rest position, i.e. they do not prevent the stacking of the stacked boxes nested one inside the other, staggered in a space-saving stack, due to their displacement by gravity. If a stacking box according to the invention is now used, in particular, goods, objects or other objects to be placed there are placed in the receiving space and must be aligned upwards with their openings by being turned 180 ° around a rotational axis lying in or parallel to the plane of the base. The support element is in turn automatically moved in a gravity-driven manner into the support position, so that the accordingly oriented stacked boxes according to the invention can be filled or even emptied, placed on top of one another and stacked on top of one another, in order to form a box stack in which the respective upper stacked box is not placed into the receiving space of the stacked box lying therebelow.

The user of the stack according to the invention no longer needs to pay special attention to actively move the support element from the rest position to the support position or vice versa depending on the currently intended use of the stack. This is done solely by gravity, automatically only by bringing the stacking box up or into correct alignment with the receiving opening. The use of the stacking box according to the invention also eliminates the need to rotate the stacking box by 180 ° about a rotation axis extending perpendicular to the floor plane in order to form a stack. The user only has to pay attention to the fact that the stacking boxes according to the invention can only be nested one inside the other in the upside-down nested state, i.e. in the nested state with the openings facing downwards, and stacked in a space-saving manner. In contrast to previously known processes for nesting such stacked cases in an open-up manner.

In principle, it does not matter at which position in the stacking compartment the support element is located. However, a stack according to the invention can be embodied particularly easily if the support element is arranged in the region of a wall edge of the stack, so that it can be moved between a support position and a rest position, in such a way that the support element is moved in a projecting manner into the region of the receiving opening in the support position, so that a further stack of substantially identical construction can be lowered, the base of which is located on the support element in the support position to form a stack of boxes, and the support element in the rest position releases the region of the receiving opening in such a way that a further substantially identical stack of boxes forms a nested stack of boxes, the base of which is first introduced into the receiving opening and can be guided into the receiving space of the stack.

The support element can be embodied in the form of a plate, for example, and can be formed, for example, by such an element that is arranged pivotably on a wall of the stack in the receiving opening region and/or in the base region. If it is arranged in the edge region of the wall, the support element can, for example, be arranged to be confined to a position in a corner of the stack, in particular with a rectangular plan view, but it can also extend along the upper edge of the wall over the entire region of the longitudinal and/or transverse edges of the stack.

The support element can be arranged on the stacking box, for example, by means of a hinge joint, whereby it can be pivoted between a support position and a rest position. Other types of hinged arrangements or movable devices are also contemplated herein. It is important that the support element moves from the rest position to the support position and vice versa in a purely gravity-driven manner when the stack "flips" about a rotation axis extending in or parallel to the plane of the base.

In the stacking box according to the invention, the base and the wall may in particular be made of plastic, in particular integrally formed, however other materials, such as metal or wood, are also conceivable. However, here plastics have the advantage of being lightweight, of high strength and of high stability, which is of particular advantage in the areas of logistics, transport and storage and related handling.

The support element may in particular be made of metal in order to provide it with sufficient stability to bear when stacked boxes filled with articles are stacked one on top of the other. However, other materials are also possible, for example plastics, such as reinforced, in particular fiber-reinforced plastics. The stacking box according to the invention is constructed mirror-symmetrically, in particular with respect to mutually perpendicular center planes extending perpendicularly to the base in the first and second, respectively. Alternatively, it is also possible to advantageously select a point-symmetrical structure of the cross section extending parallel to the base plane, wherein the center of symmetry of each point symmetry forms the center point of the cross-sectional contour. It is not necessary here to provide asymmetry, as is the case with the stack according to the invention, which is stacked in a specifically oriented manner when rotated about an axis of rotation extending perpendicularly to the base plane, as is required according to US 6,047,853.

Advantageously, one or more supports may be formed on the wall and/or the base to support the support element in the support position. The supports may have support surfaces extending substantially parallel to the base, but may also have support surfaces extending obliquely. It is important that it provides a reliable support for the support element and a stop when the gravity driven movement of the support element into the support position. Such a support can be used to estimate the weight of a stacked box according to the invention, which is arranged below the stack of boxes by means of the support element and further down onto the bottom or subsoil. Such a support can be, for example, a cylindrical projection which is formed in the wall of the stacking box and by which the support element is located in a support position and is supported on its end face.

In order to be able to stack the stack boxes of the type according to the invention on one another in a reliably centered and in particular displacement-free manner, it is advantageously possible to provide a centering structure which is formed on the support element and a counter structure which can form a stack outside the support element, wherein the centering structure interacts with the counter structure in a stack box of the same basic structure in the stacked state in order to center the stacked stack box with respect to the stack box located therebelow and also to fix it in a plane of the stack box parallel to the base.

In order to be able to move the support elements solely by gravity, an arrangement may be chosen, for example, in which the pivot point of the rotary or pivoting movement is offset to the projection of the center of gravity of the respective support element onto the plane of the base of the stacking box or onto a plane spanned by the edges delimiting the receiving opening. It is possible to provide separately arranged weight elements or the like with a shifted centre of gravity. It is also possible to provide the support element with a crank shape, which is then, due to this shape, moved between the support position and the rest position driven only by gravity in the manner according to the invention. The person skilled in the art will be able to easily shape the support element and/or its attachments in order to achieve the effect according to the invention within the framework of a structural design, corresponding solutions being known.

Two, in particular a plurality of stacking boxes as described above may be comprised in an advantageous transport and/or storage system according to the invention. The stacks included in the system can either be stacked with their openings facing upwards (filled or empty) in a stack with the support elements in the support position, or nested inside one another to save space if they are placed on a base with their receiving openings facing downwards, one stack being placed at the bottom and stacked like a hat, the other stack being placed at the top.

Drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention result from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawings. Here:

figure 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a stacking box according to the invention in an upright position suitable for stacking a plurality of stacking boxes according to the invention;

fig. 2 shows the support element in the support position in an enlarged detail view;

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the process of stacking two stacked boxes constructed according to the present invention into a box stack;

figure 4 schematically shows a box stack formed by two stacked boxes stacked on top of each other according to the invention;

figure 5 schematically illustrates a nested stack of boxes formed from two inverted nested stacked boxes according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows the support element in an enlarged detail view in a rest position;

FIG. 7 schematically illustrates a schematic plan view of a stacking bin aligned for stacking with a receiving opening facing upwardly in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a stacked box according to the present invention with the openings aligned downward for stacking one on top of another in a staggered nest.

List of reference numerals:

1. stacking box

2. Base seat

3. Wall(s)

4. Receiving space

5. Edge of a container

6. Receiving opening

7. Supporting element

8. Hinge joint

9. Column

10. Support piece

Detailed Description

Possible design variants of a stack according to the invention and a transport and/or storage system formed by at least two such stacks are shown in the figures in a schematic view. The drawings are highly schematic representations and are used only to illustrate the principles and basic elements in accordance with the present invention. It is by no means to be understood as a complete construction sketch, nor true scale.

Fig. 1 shows a stacking box 1 according to the invention in a first position. The stacking box 1 has a base 2, and the stacking box 1 is placed in the position shown in fig. 1, for example on the ground. Starting from the base 2 and pointing upwards in this first position is a wall 3 extending here around the outside of the box, wherein the base 2 and the wall 3 enclose a receiving space 4. In principle, however, other parts of the wall 3 defining the receiving space 4 may also be provided, which are separate from the peripheral wall, for example in the form of column walls or the like rising from the ground in the inner part. The wall 3 terminates in an edge 5 surrounding the receiving opening 6. In the region of the edge 5, a support element 7 is arranged on the wall 3, offset slightly below the upper edge of the edge 5, here hinged to the wall 3 of the stacking box 1 by means of a hinge joint 8. In the position of the stacking box 1 as shown in fig. 1, the support element 7 is driven by gravity only and is thus forced into the support position shown in fig. 1. As will be described below, the support element 7 can also be moved into the rest position by pivoting about the hinge joint 8.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged sectional view for better illustrating the support element 7 in the support position of the stacking box 1 shown in fig. 1. Here it can also be seen that the support elements 7 form support positions on the columns 9 of the wall 3 of the stacking box 1 on top of a support surface 10 (see fig. 6) and are supported by the columns 9.

Fig. 3 and 4 show that two substantially identical stacking boxes 1 according to the invention can be stacked one on top of the other in the position shown in fig. 1 and accordingly with support elements driven by gravity into the support position. This is illustrated in fig. 3 by the arrow indicating the stacking movement, and fig. 4 illustrates the stacking state. In this way, two or more stacked cases 1 according to the invention can be stacked one on top of the other, with the items to be stored or transported being arranged and stored in the receiving space 4 of the stacked case 1.

Fig. 5 shows an "empty box stack" consisting of stacked boxes 1 according to the invention which are rotated by 180 ° about a rotational axis extending in or parallel to the plane of the base 2, i.e. placed upside down, wherein the stacked boxes 1 are staggered with respect to one another in a nested manner. The stacked boxes 1 according to the invention are here stacked in hat-like fashion, wherein the walls 3 and the base 2 of the lower stacked box 1 are inserted into the receiving space 4 of the stacked box 1 located above it.

It is possible that the stacking box according to the invention is in the inverted position, shown in fig. 5, rotated by 180 ° about the axis of rotation relative to the position shown in fig. 1, the support element 7 being driven solely by gravity and thus automatically moving from the support position shown in fig. 1 to 4 into the rest position shown in fig. 5 and 6. Driven by gravity, the support element 7 folds down from the support 10 on the column 9 about the hinge joint 8, which previously was resting in the support position, so that it no longer obstructs the sliding of the base 2 of the stack 1 lying below into the receiving space 4 of the stack 1 lying above, the stacks 1 can be stacked one on top of the other in the upside-down position.

Comparing fig. 7 and 8 with the schematic views shown in the figures, it is again clear how the support element 7 is moved by gravity drive only. Fig. 7 shows a top view of the stack 1, the stack 1 being aligned vertically upwards with the receiving opening, i.e. in the same position as in fig. 1. The support element 7 is pivoted into a support position so that the other stacking box 1 can be placed upside down with its base 2 on top of it. On the other hand, fig. 8 shows a view of the upside-down stack 1 from below (again driven solely by gravity, with the support element 7 in the rest position as shown in fig. 8), so that a rotated stack 1 can be placed onto an underlying stack 1, which is likewise placed upside down, to form a stack of nested and thus space-saving empty stacks 1.

It should be particularly clear at this point that the design of the stacking box and the arrangement of its components shown in the figures is highly schematic and is shown in one possible example. The support elements are shown here, which are arranged only in the four corner regions of the rectangular outline of the stacking box. Also conceivable are strip-like arrangements, for example extending along the narrow end edge or along the longitudinal edge or even extending circumferentially along the entire edge. There is no restriction to the person skilled in the art, as long as the support element is moved between a rest position and a support position, driven solely by gravity by turning the stacking box 1 upside down or vertically, and in the support position the support element supports another stacking box 1 with the articles arranged therein and is able to safely carry the load.

Claims

1. A stacking box (1) comprising:

a base (2);

a wall (3) extending in one direction, in particular transversely to the circumferential direction, starting from the base (2), which delimits with the base (2) a receiving space (4) of the stacking box (1); and

a receiving opening (6) delimited by an edge (5) of the wall (3) opposite the bottom (2),

wherein a support element (7) which can be moved back and forth between a rest position and a support position is attached to the stacking box (1),

wherein the support elements (7) are positioned in the support position such that they enable the storage area of a stacked box (1) and another stacked box (1) having substantially the same structure to be placed on top of each other to form a stacked box,

wherein the support elements (7) are positioned in the rest position such that they enable a stacking box (1) and another substantially identical stacking box (1) to be placed inside one another to form a nested stacking box,

the support element (7) is configured and attached to the stacking box (1) such that the support element (7) is moved to the support position only in a gravity-driven manner when the stacking box is placed on a base with the base (2) in a substantially horizontal direction of the base (2) and the receiving opening (6) is substantially vertically upward, such that the support element (7) is moved to the rest position only in a gravity-driven manner when the stacking box (1) is placed on a base with the receiving opening (6) in a substantially horizontal direction on the edge (5) and the base (2) is substantially vertically upward.

2. A stacking box (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the supporting element (7) is arranged movable between the supporting position and the rest position in the region of an edge (5) of a wall (3) of the stacking box (1) such that:

the support element (7) in the support position protrudes into the region of the receiving opening (6) such that a further substantially identical stack box (1) can be formed with its base (2) resting on the support element (7) in the rest position,

and the support element (7) in the rest position releases the area of the receiving opening (6) in such a way that another structurally substantially identical stack box is first introduced with its base into the receiving opening (6) to form a nested stack box and can be introduced into the receiving space (4) of the stack box (1).

3. Stacking box (1) according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that a plate-like support element (7) is arranged to be pivotable at the wall (3) of the stacking box (1) in the region of the receiving opening and/or in the region of the base (2).

4. Stacking box (1) according to one of the previous claims, characterised in that the support element (7) is arranged to be pivotable at the stacking box (1) between the support position and the rest position by means of a hinge joint (8).

5. Stacked box (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the base (2) and the wall (3) are made of plastic.

6. Stacked box (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the support element (7) is formed of metal.

7. A stacking box (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is constructed mirror-symmetrically with respect to a first and a second central plane, which in each case are orthogonal to the base (2) and mutually perpendicular, or from a plan view above, it forms a point-like symmetrical cross-section, which in each case forms the centre of the cross-sectional profile.

8. Stacking box (1) according to any one of the previous claims, characterised by a support (9, 10) formed at the wall (3) and/or at the base (2) for supporting the support element (7) in the support position.

9. A stacking box (1) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that a centering structure is formed at the supporting element (7) and a corresponding structure is formed at the stacking box (1) outside the supporting element (7), wherein the centering structure and the corresponding structure of a substantially structurally identical stacking box (1) co-act in a supporting state in order to center the stacked stacking box (1) with respect to the stacking box (1) located therebelow.

10. Transport and/or storage system comprising at least two, in particular a plurality of, stacked cases (1) according to one of the preceding claims.